Sony's new Bravia LCD HDTV offers a slimmed-down frame and a slick interface, but some picture-quality quirks detract from its otherwise solid performance.

Sony's new Bravia KDL-46Z4100, a 46-inch LCD TV ($2,699.99 direct), incorporates many of the latest features, including a slim frame design, a good selection of HD inputs, and 120-Hz technology to help reduce motion blur. Unfortunately, you also get some less-than-optimal picture settings that sacrifice detail when displaying the highest-quality video sources.

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The most striking characteristic of this set is its slick bezel and frame design. The glossy black bezel (also available in a brushed-metal finish) measures about an inch wide and has beveled corners that give it a modern picture frame look. Nestled between the screen and the bottom bezel is a strip of clear acrylic flanked on either side by finely perforated grilles concealing stereo speakers. A brightly illuminated Sony logo centered below the screen can be disabled, and the set's on-display controls are easily accessed on the lower right side of its frame. When perched upon its table stand, the KDL-46Z4100 measures 29 by 42.5 by 12.1 inches (HWD) and weighs 58 pounds. Without the stand, the height and depth are reduced to 27.1 and 3 inches, respectively.

The baton-style remote features a rounded underside that's textured for a comfortable and secure grip. The keypad provides good tactile feedback and is further enhanced by a pleasing blue backlight whose duration can be customized. The remote's range and responsiveness were excellent, even from distances exceeding 20 feet and at off-axis angles greater than 50 degrees.

Media mavens will appreciate the TV's solid selection of audio and video connection options. The main port panel is located in the lower-right corner on the back of the set, and its 1080p-compatible connections include three HDMI ports, two component video inputs, VGA, and an RF input that feeds the TV's combo terrestrial/cable tuner. A front-accessible port panel along the set's left-hand side features a fourth HDMI port, as well as a USB port that can be used to access digital picture and music files stored on removable media.

The 46-inch screen (the set is also available with a 40-inch screen) provides a pixel resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 progressively scanned (1080p). Initial picture scaling and resolution tests showed the TV is optimized for 1080i/p video formats; feeding it 720p video sacrificed the outermost edge of the video picture by 6 percent. Standard-definition scaling was borderline excessive at 6 percent.

The "cinema" picture preset proved to be the best at producing a picture that approaches the color and detail standards defined by the HD video spec. Typically, Sony's HDTV cinema preset disables aggressive picture-enhancement features found in more punchy presets such as "vivid" or "standard." I found that the KDL-46Z4100 handled this preset a bit differently, enabling an enhanced contrast feature that made some picture details too dark or too bright. Disabling this contrast setting improved the TV's color accuracy, although I noted some warming (reddish tones) in the grayscale from mid-gray to black.

Even in a well-lit environment, the dark-colored, matte-finish screen surface helps it maintain a solid picture contrast. In a darkened room, a set's representation of video black is a critical factor for a well-contrasted picture. The KDL-46Z4100's black level was measured at a dark 0.09 cd/m2; based on that figure, the contrast ratio was calculated to be 1,527:1a good result. The TV engaged an obvious backlight-dimming mode when it was displaying a very dark picture, but this didn't affect my contrast calculations, which measure light and dark levels as the TV displays a checkerboard test pattern. For more on testing methods, check out How We Test HDTVs.

The majority of television programming continues to be delivered in a standard-definition format (480i), and the KDL-46Z4100 performs really well in this regard. Film-based video (originally recorded at 24 frames per second) was quickly detected, ensuring a clean and accurate representation, and the TV's depiction of dimly lit scenes was more accurate than that of most LCDs, including the Samsung LN52A550 and the smaller Toshiba Regza 32CV510U both of which exhibit significant (and obvious) color shifts when displaying dark details. On the other hand, the Westinghouse TX-52F480S outdoes them all with its excellent color consistency. As with the 60-Hz Sony Bravia KDL-46V3000, the 120-Hz KDL-46Z4100 also tended to slightly smear details in dark scenes, but the faster refresh rate with this set proved better overall at minimizing motion-related smearing artifacts.

The KDL-46Z4100 was able to produce a clean and detailed picture with 1080i/p HD video sources except for when the video was originally recorded at 24p (many prime-time TV shows, feature films, and Blu-ray movies). In this case, the set would quickly and correctly detect such videos as originating from 24p material, but it would almost as quickly lose its "lock," resulting in loss of fine detail. Further testing revealed that the TV's Video/Photo Optimizer picture setting could be adjusted to correct this issue. A Sony representative confirmed my findings and provided a firmware update that appears to fix this problem; the update was not publicly available at the time of this article, however, and Sony was unable to confirm whether current owners would be able to download it from Sony's online support site.

Power consumption using the out-of-the-box picture settings was comparable with that of other similarly sized LCDs, such as the 47-inch LG 47LG60. The TV's standby consumption measured 0.5W (a passing result for Energy Star certification), but it was when displaying a 16:9 formatted video consumption averaged 260W, exceeding the upcoming Energy Star 3.0 consumption rate of 244 watts for a HD screen of this size. You could simply enable the set's "cinema" picture preset when applicable (in a dimly lit viewing environment) and reduce the average operating energy consumption by 57 percent (112W average).

For quality standard-definition television viewing, the Sony Bravia KDL-46Z4100 is among the best sets around, but I was mildly disappointed by the few oversights I found with the TV's default picture settings. Although the relevant settings can be adjusted, in view of the premium that Sony charges (and typically earns) for its televisions this set has too many rough edges, and it left me with the impression that it was rushed to market. If a slightly wider bezel design doesn't dissuade you, LG's $2,000 (street) 47LG60 strikes me as a better buy: It delivers flawless performance with HD material, and its picture controls are a videophile's dream.